A male sage grouse displays his plumage in an effort to woo an unseen female in the highlands area north of Gerlach on April 12, 2005. / David B. Parker/RGJ file

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Sage grouse habitat burned

Category 1: 274,000 of 9,481,532 acres burned. Category 1 land is considered essential and irreplaceable for sage grouse. Category 2: 100,295 of 5,442,812 acres burned. Category 2 land, while less vital than Category 1, is used by sage grouse to rear young and survive the winter. Category 3: 60,323 of 6,105,929 acres burned. Category 3 land is moderately important for sage grouse. Source: Nevada Department of Wildlife

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Wildfire has destroyed nearly 375,000 acres of prime sage grouse habitat in Nevada this year in a worrying situation that will likely force a halt to hunting of the bird in the state’s most popular spot.

On Sept. 14, the Nevada Wildlife Commission will consider emergency closure of a sage grouse hunting unit near the site of the Holloway Fire, the largest of the wildfires that chewed through sensitive sagebrush terrain this summer in Northern Nevada.

The measure is considered as a means to protect the bird under consideration for listing under the Endangered Species Act, a possibility some say would come at crippling cost to Nevada’s agricultural, mining and renewable energy industries.

More than 930 fires have burned nearly 736,900 acres in Nevada as of Friday, according to the Western Great Basin Coordinating Center. More than 20 big fires have had serious impact on sage grouse habitat, said Shawn Espinosa, sage grouse specialist for the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

“That’s just so far. We’re not done yet,” Espinosa said.

Of the more than 9.4 million acres of the most important habitat, 274,000 acres burned for a loss of about 3 percent, Espinosa said. That so-called “Category 1” habitat is considered essential and irreplaceable and is used by sage grouse for mating and nesting.

Nearly 100,300 acres of “Category 2” habitat, land used by the birds to rear young and survive the winter, also burned. About 5.4 million acres of that habitat exist in Nevada, meaning nearly 2 percent was lost this year. Another 60,000 acres of moderately important habitat burned.

Some of the worst damage occurred in some of the grouse’s most vital habitat in northeastern Humboldt County on the Oregon line. Nearly 85,500 acres of Category 1 habitat was destroyed by the 460,850-acre Holloway Fire in August, for a loss of more than 56 percent of the most vital habitat in that area, Espinosa said.

With habitat taking such a huge hit there, biologists are recommending closure of the sage grouse hunt in that area to not add to potential bird mortality there, Espinosa said. Hunting was due to start late this month.

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“That’s the most popular area in Nevada for hunting sage grouse,” Espinosa said, adding that because of fire impacts in the area this year, allowing hunting there this year “is not something we feel is appropriate.”

Hunting is generally not considered to affect sage grouse numbers sufficiently when it comes to the bird’s potential listing. But Nevada’s decision comes after a late-August move by the California Fish and Game Commission to close September’s sage grouse hunting season in Lassen County, also due to impacts on bird habitat from wildfire.

Drought conditions had experts predicting a dangerous wildfire season in 2012 that could also come with big-time hits to sage grouse habitat. Cumulative impacts from fire are a particular concern, with Espinosa estimating that up to 15 percent of the bird’s overall habitat in Nevada has burned since 1999.

Lack of seed to restore sagebrush terrain burned by big fires this year is of increasing concern.

“We knew this would be a tough fire season. You just have to hope you’ll be lucky,” Espinosa said. “But when you’re dealing with fires this big, there’s just not enough seed. There’s not the ability to do a real good job of rehabbing these sites.”

The Department of Wildlife is considering planting sunflowers and similar plants in some burn areas in effort to control spread of invading cheatgrass until more native seeds for sagebrush and grasses are available, Espinosa said.